Luthien and Beyond: How it should have happened
by Seamus MacHenry
Summary: How the battle of Luthien and those that came after should have happened
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Battle in Space

Luthien System

26 December 3051

1400 Hours

The peacefulness of space was broken. Several jumpships suddenly materialized at the far reaches of the Luthien system. They looked like metal skeletons floating in space, with large bumps all over them.

The bumps began to move, to float away from the metal skeletons that had carried them across the far reaches of space. Bright lights began to erupt from the bumps and they began to move toward the Black Pearl of the Draconis Combine, Luthien.

Aerospace fighters were launched, creating a screen that looked like so much chaff. They remained close to the dropships, having learned their lesion from previous defeats.

Launch Station for the 7th Luthien Aerospace Wing

Luthien, Phest Military District, Draconis Combine

04 January 3052

0530 Hours

Alarm klaxons went off, waking up the entire complex. People were scrambling around, getting out of bed, getting dressed in their jumpsuits, running out to the barracks to their fighters. The Clans had arrived, that much was certain.

_Chu-I _Noyu Okota threw himself out of bed at the sound of the alarms. He wiped the sleep from his eyes while they adjusted themselves to the light. He grabbed his jumpsuit and pulled it on as fast as he could. Grabbing his belt, he began running out of the barracks.

By the time he had reached the hangar, he had his belt on and the rest of his uniform straightened out a bit. He mounted the ladder to the cockpit of his SL-15 _Slayer_ aerospace fighter.

Settling himself in the cockpit, he pulled on the last parts of his flight suit, specially designed to help him cope with the Gs he would pull in his _Slayer_. It had an inbuilt cooling vest so he would not have to worry about heat.

He began plugging in all the connections to his suit to his fighter's computer. He had performed his complex dance so often in his short career that it took him less than thirty seconds to have all the connections in place and locked. He pulled on and locked his flight helmet to the shoulders of this flight suit, to prevent it from flailing around and taking his neck with it.

All locked in and ready to go, Okota began to switch on the _Slayer_ and ready its deadly weapons to kill clanner fighters. He wrapped his hands around the red bar of the reactor switch and pulled it back, locking it in place. The cockpit temperature rose a degree or two as massive amounts of heat were created by the fusion reaction happening only feet away from him. Lights flickered on as power was sent to them. The computer began running self-diagnostics to make sure everything was in order.

The metallic and synthesized voice of the computer spoke through his helmets speakers.

"Slayer 3925232 online. Proceed with voice identification," the computer said.

"Noyu Okota."

"Voiceprint pattern match obtained. Working…"

Okota was always a little nervous when starting up his _Slayer_. He never wanted to have to deal with the embarrassment of getting stuck in his own fighter if he accidentally tripped the anti-intruder programming.

"Complete initiation sequence"

"The phoenix burns bright and its enemies burn brighter. I am the phoenix."

"Affirmative. Welcome aboard Noyu Okota."

Power was allowed to the weapons systems bringing them online. Data began to scroll across the secondary monitors as sensors came online. A targeting display also made its appearance between him and the view port. It showed a 360-degree view of his surroundings and a 160-degree forward firing arc.

Okota switched on his radio, already locked into the squadron comm channel.

"This is Phoenix 3, reporting 100 operational."

The rest of Phoenix Feather squadron followed soon after with four more 100 operational reports. The last to make an appearance on the comm was _Sho-sa _Kuro Motoshita, the squadron leader.

"This is Phoenix 1 to all Feathers. Move to launch catapult and prepare for launch. We've got a lot of clanners up there that need removing. Our orders are to let 3rd wing pull their fighters away, then we come in and open up their dropships."

The six _Slayers_ of Phoenix Feather squadron made their way to the launch catapults. Being stationed on a small island brought only one problem to the 7th Aerospace wing; little space for take off and landing. Launch catapults were installed to make take off much easier, and they could be retraced to allow enough space for landings.

Three of the _Slayers_ stopped at the beginning of the catapult launching system, waiting for ground techs to hook the fighters up to the catapult. It was taking them much longer than usual to hook up the fighters when Phoenix 1 spoke on the comm.

"Looks like they're having some trouble with the damn catapult. They didn't say what was wrong but it will take 'em a couple more minutes to sort it out. Sit tight guys, they'll get it working in no time."

Minutes seemed like hours to Okota. Five minutes came and went while he was still sitting in the cockpit of his _Slayer _aerospace fighter, waiting for the ground techs to fix some problem with the catapult launch system. The 3rd wing was probably already engaged with the Clan fighters in the space above. Who could tell how well they were doing? Too many fighters were engaged up there that no one could tell who was who and who was winning.

Finally, the all clear was given to use the catapult system. The techs had done their job and earned their pay. Three by three the fighters were launched in quick succession, Phoenix Feather squadron in the lead. All in all, with in 15 minutes, all 54 aerospace fighters of the 7th Luthien Aerospace wing were in flight and on their way to attack the clanner dropships burning towards the planet.

Smoke Jaguar Carrier class DropShip _Prowler_ Space around Luthien

04 January 3052

0530 Hours

Star Commander Dillon quietly entered bay 1 of the _Prowler_. Techs were bustling around, preparing the OmniFighters for launch. The rest of the pilots of the aeroStar were already in the cockpits of their _Sabutai_ OmniFighters.

Dillon walked towards his own _Sabutai_, positioned nearest to the launch doors. Next to the ladder, sixteen silhouettes shone on the gray paint of the fighter. Dillon smiled slightly to himself when he looked at these. He made a practice of adding color t the silhouettes to depict what Clan, or now House, the fighter he had destroyed had belonged to. Seven of these were Clan in origin, while the other nine were all spheroid.

"_I shall add more to this number in this momentous battle," _Dillon thought to himself.

He reached his fighter and was about to begin climbing the ladder when he saw a tech wiping something off his fighter around the fuel injection port. He walked around to find the tech trying to remove the residue of a fuel spill from the fuselage of his _Sabutai_.

"What is this?!" Dillon shouted. "A fuel spill on my fighter? Do you wish me to explode into flames before I even launch?!"

The tech was very startled at Dillon's shouting. He was very young, probably a freebirth tech.

"Freebirth! Get this cleaned up now or I shall see that the next time you make a mistake on any of the fighters under my command, you will be keel hauled by this very DropShip."

Dillon stormed back around the fighter to the ladder. He climbed into the fighter and began hooking himself in. He connected the flight suit into the fighter. He felt the coolant flowing slowly through his inbuilt cooling vest after he connected and locked the coolant tube. He pulled the reactor switch back and locked it in the on position. The computers turned on and began running diagnostics.

The rumble of the 300 rating extra light engine was audible and the slight shiver of the 75-ton fighter was noticeable to Dillon.

The metallic voice of the computer sounded through his helmet, emitted from the headset built into the flight helmet.

"_Sabutai _44356XL300 online. Proceed with voice identification, warrior."

"Star Commander Dillon of Clan Smoke Jaguar."

"Voiceprint pattern obtained. Processing…"

Dillon was a little impatient at the computer. It always seemed to take longer for it to process his voiceprint when they were in a combat zone, as if the computer did not wish for him to fight.

"Voiceprint accepted. Complete initiation sequence."

"Jaguar Claws rip apart Jaguar prey."

"Aff. Welcome Star Commander Dillon."

Weapons systems came online. Monitors came online and showed data streaming in from the sensor systems. His radio also came online. He moved and switched on his targeting display.

"Verifying weapon configuration," came the metallic voice again. "Prime configuration accepted and locked. Weapon systems operational."

Dillon did not need to look to know his weapon load out. A gauss rifle and extended range small laser were in the nose of his craft. Twin extended range PPCs and twin large pulse lasers took up each wing while a pair of extended range small lasers covered the rear arc.

"Jaguar Claw star, prepare for launch. We have incoming spheroid fighters. We shall teach them the power of the Smoke Jaguar."

A series of 'affs' came over the radio from the rest of Jaguar Claw aeroStar.

"_Prowler_, this is Claw One. Requesting clear for launch."

"Claw One, this is _Prowler_, you are clear for launch. All Claws may proceed to launch bays."

"Aff, _Prowler_. All Claws, proceed to launch bays."

Within minutes, all ten _Sabutai _OmniFighters of the _Prowler _had been launched, along with many other OmniFighters from other Carrier-class DropShips. All in all, two trinaries worth of Clan fighters were deployed as a screen, most of which were heavy and assault class.

Approaching them from Luthien were some fifty, spheroid fighters. His _Sabutai_'s computerbegan to scan the enemy fighters, gaining as much operational data as can be obtained at such a long distance. Most were of medium and heavy classes. Most were _Corsairs_ and _Shilones_.

"This is Khan Furey, Khan of Clan Smoke Jaguar. Engage all Draconis Combine aerospace fighters. Teach this freebirth scum about the prowess of the Clans."

Sixty Clan fighters, forty Smoke Jaguar and twenty Nova Cat, powered up their fusion engines and pushed forward, ahead of the ships, closing the gap between the two groups of fighters. Over 100 fighters streaked towards each other.

Star Commander Dillon was full of anticipation as the distance was closed. There were plenty of targets for him to sharpen his claws upon. His weapons were fully powered up and ready to destroy some spheroids.

They were almost within weapons range. 1200 meters and closing now. Within seconds, the Clan fighters were close enough to attack. Gauss slugs, PPC and laser bolts, and long-range missiles flew out from the Clan fighters towards the Draconis Combine fighters. One _Corsair _exploded under the combined fire of three Jaguar _Visigoth_'s.

"_The spheroids have proven themselves to not be worthy of the honor of Zellbrigen, we shall crush them like an OmniMech will crush a sapling," _Dillon thought to himself.

"Jaguar Claws. Fire at will at any target. Destroy the dezgra scum."

Dillon locked onto an enemy _Shilone_ and fired. Two PPC bolts lashed out along with the pulse of one large pulse laser, followed by the sliver streak of a gauss slug. Both PPCs and the pulse laser slammed into the nose of the fighter, the gauss slug flying over the fighter by a few feet however. Smoke poured forth from the nose of the _Shilone_. Dillon detected some small explosions around the cockpit, followed by the cockpit section ejecting from the fighter, which flew on for another 200 meters before exploding.

Another _Corsair _exploded before the freebirths began their counter fire. A Jaguar Sabutai was ripped to shreds by incoming fire from an entire enemy squadron.

The two groups met and began their deadly ballet. They twisted and turned, rose and plummeted among each other, friend and foe alike. Bolts of man-made lighting flew around, melting armor and missing it, slugs of depleted uranium and nickel ferrous streaked past and through fighters, and missiles flew on clouds of fire, exploding upon the backs of craft.

"Point Commander Leslie, you have two _Corsairs_ on you six. Come right two-zero degrees and I shall see them off your tail," Dillon radioed to his wingman.

"Aff, Star Commander. Coming right, two-zero degrees. Leave one of the stravag's for me."

Dillon laughed silently to himself. Leslie certainly had the Jaguar spirit in her. She was fresh from training too, having only been in the invasion force for one year. He would have no quarrel with coupling with her after the conquest of this planet was complete.

Leslie's _Sabutai_ flew over his own, heading to what appeared to be back towards the DropShips. Two _Corsairs_ were following her closely. She adeptly dodged their fire, while returning fire extremely well, as a Clan warrior, especially a Smoke Jaguar, should. Dillon brought his fighter around to follow the two _Corsairs_.

He fell into line behind one _Corsairs_. His advanced targeting computer and his natural skill allowed him to lock on within mere seconds. He squeezed the triggers for both PPCs, one large laser and the gauss rifle. Twin blue bolts shot out and sizzled the armor around the _Corsair's _engine. The pulse laser melted armor off the top of the fuselage and the gauss slug slammed into the back of the right wing. All this damage sent the _Corsair _out of control and away from the battle.

The other _Corsair_ was closing in on Leslie's _Sabutai_. Dillon fell back to allow her to kill the freebirth in the _Corsair_. She pulled up and performed a loop that brought her right behind the confused and amazed pilot of the _Corsair_. She triggered both PPCs and both pulse lasers, which went searing into the back of the _Corsair_. The enemies engine flared for a moment and then shut off.

"_Ah, a lucky shot to the freebirth's engine. She will make a fine Star Commander, or perhaps even Star Captain one day," _Dillon thought to himself as he watched Leslie cripple the _Corsair_.

Dillon looked down at his secondary monitor to assess the damage done to his Star. Pilot Travis' _Sabutai _was combat crippled, but he would be able to make it to the _Prowler_. Pilot Zachary had been killed when his fusion engine had exploded from extensive damage. It was a pity; Zachary was an excellent pilot, with the viciousness of a Jaguar in him. Other than that though, his Star was relatively unhurt. Some armor damage on all fighters except for Pilot Mathew's _Sabutai_.

"Hrmm, Mathew never seems to take any damage. I will have to review his battle roms from now on to make sure he is not hiding like a cowardly surat."

Dillon then moved his gaze over to check the status of the enemy fighters. Fifty-four had originally attacked them just nine minutes ago. Out of those fifty-four, eleven were destroyed, six more were crippled beyond fighting capability, and three were badly damaged. The other thirty-four were still operational and fighting.

Dillon was about to move his _Sabutai_ back into the fray when he looked at his radar. More targets were incoming. His computer labeled them as Beta One through Beta Fifty-four. A quick scan told him most were heavy and assault class fighters. But something did not seem right. Another quick check told him something he feared very much.

"Jaguar Claw aeroStar! Pull back to the DropShips. All Jaguar fighters! We have another freebirth wing moving to attack the DropShips. I repeat, another spheroid aerospace wing is making for the DropShips!"

With all the Jaguar fighters currently engaged with one aerospace wing, the DropShips were left virtually unguarded. With fifty-four heavy and assault aerospace fighters descending upon them, even their Clan technology would be of little use. The DropShips would be cut to ribbons and the assault lost before it even started.

Dillon maneuvered his fighter back towards the DropShip fleet, and with the remaining seven operational _Sabutais_ of Jaguar Claw aeroStar, began to make his way back to defend the DropShips.

Noyu Okota was full of apprehension as they 7th Aerospace Wing closed with the Clan DropShips. The 3rd had done its job, to pull the Clan fighters away from their DropShips so as to allow the 7th to attack them without the clanners getting in the way.

"Phoenix One to Phoenix Feather Squadron. Our orders are to attack that Overlord-C DropShip and either cripple it or destroy it. Don't let it lock you in its crosshairs or its good-bye pilot. Move fast and make your runs count. Good luck men."

Six _Slayers_ moved to attacking speed, waiting for the moment that they could begin peppering the hull of that DropShip with their auto cannons. The entire 7th aero wing was confident that the 3rd had done their job, for the battle between the clanners and the 3rd was too far away to scan it with sensors to see what was happening.

Okota marked the Overlord-C at Target Alpha and locked it into the _Slayer_'s computer. He checked his weapons status. Auto cannon ready with enough ammo for 20 shots. All medium lasers were ready and functional.

"Okay, all Phoenix Feathers, split into attack pairs and begin evasive maneuver on my mark. We'll be in that DropShips range and I don't want to see my squadron gone in ten seconds of fire. Three, two, one, mark!"

Okota banked to the left with his wingman Jaran. The Overlord commenced its attacks on the _Slayers_ of Phoenix squadron. Naval grade lasers and auto cannon fired, but luckily none hit. Other squadrons began streaking towards different DropShips. All in all, the squadrons of the 7th wing targeted nine Clan DropShips.

It was very intimidating to fly so close to an enemy DropShip in an aerospace fighter. It felt like being in a tin can next to a large metal trashcan. Of course the tin can could travel at amazing speeds and the trash can could easily destroy you if you weren't careful. Phoenix squadron were about to begin their attack runs when a PPC bolt from somewhere behind Okota's _Slayer_ connected with the cockpit of Phoenix One's _Slayer_. Phoenix One's craft veered to the left and crashed into Phoenix Two, causing them both to lose control and fly off, away from the DropShips, and then explode in a plume of flame.

Okota, stunned with disbelief, checked his radar. Multiple bogies were closing in with the 7th wing. Apparently the 3rd failed to pull the clanners away from the DropShips far enough. Okota tried to swallow but found his mouth dry with fear. The clanners were going to make a visit, and they caught the 7th with their pants down.

Star Commander Dillon targeted the lead _Slayer_ of the nearest enemy squadron. He squeezed the trigger and sent a blue bolt of lighting towards the craft. It connected. It connected better than Dillon could have hoped for. He saw it slam into the cockpit, followed by the _Slayer_ slamming into the craft next to it. They both went tumbling into space and then exploded. Dillon smiled. In his eyes was the gleam of a Jaguar with his prey in sight. Forty-eight Jaguar and Nova Cat fighters screeched forward to defend their DropShips.

The enemies were obviously unprepared that the Clan fighters would come back so soon. Another five of their number were destroyed before any of them made a move to attack the now closing Clan fighters.

The Jaguars and Nova Cats had left their last group of enemies routed and crippled. Of the thirty-four that had remained operation at the time this new wing had made an appearance, now only fifteen remained combat worthy, and then only with major armor damage.

The Clan fighters streaked forward, sending death in the form of lasers, missiles, and auto cannon shells before them. The enemy fighters took more damage in the second wave of fire, but none were destroyed this time. The freebirths began to maneuver in their airborne steeds, even if they were but donkeys compared to their Clan equivalents.

They began making their way towards the Clan fighters, determined to close the gap so that the Clan warriors could not exploit their range advantage. Their return fire was disorganized and ineffective. A little damage to some fighters, but not enough to stop the Clan fighter charge. Dillon's _Sabutai_ was rocked by an auto cannon shells that broke armor apart on his left wing and fuselage.

A beeping announcement pulled Dillon's attention to his weapons monitor. Apparently, one of his pulse lasers had been rendered inoperable by the auto cannon shells.

"Freebirth," he cursed.

He moved his crosshairs over the enemy fighter that had damaged his pulse laser. His computer registered it as a _Slayer_, but this mattered little to Dillon. His crosshairs turned gold and Dillon squeezed the triggers on his remaining pulse laser, PPCs, and gauss rifle. The gauss slug hit the tip of the _Slayer's _right wing, shearing off a two-foot long piece of it. The pulse laser also hit the right wing, near the fuselage. One PPC slammed into the left wing and the other into the nose of the spheroid machine.

The machine dipped a meter or two out of formation and then flew back up.

"The pilot must be dazed from my attack. Serves him right for destroying one of my weapons."

The return fire from the _Slayer _missed wide, the auto cannon missing by well over ten meters from any Clan fighter.

Dillon concentrated on one last salvo before they passed each other. He stared at his crosshairs and waited until they turned gold. The second they did, he triggers another salvo. His last gauss slug slammed into the nose of the _Slayer_, along with both PPCs. The pulse laser stitched a set of holes across the left side of the fuselage.

The damage must have been worse than it seemed, for the _Slayer _began to break apart. First the left wing drooped and fell off, to float though the void for all of time. Then the left side of the fuselage's armor began to fall off. Soon armor was falling off the entire _Slayer_. Time seemed to have slowed down as Dillon watched the_ Slayer's _spectacular demise. An explosion ended the spectacle and sent Dillon back into reality.

Okota recovered from the shock of seeing both his commanding officer and executive officer die together in a fiery plume.

He turned his _Slayer_ to face the new threat posed by the Clan fighters. He kicked his _Slayer_ into maximum thrust, flying towards the clanners. He dropped crosshairs onto a _Sabutai_ fighter and waited for the crosshairs to turn gold. They did, and he sent a steam of depleted uranium shells at the Clan fighter. It ripped across the left wing of the fighter, sending armor chips of into space, and sending up sparks from around the hard-point where a pulse laser was connected.

The reply to his auto cannon was swift and powerful. A gauss slug slammed into his _Slayer_, along with a pulse laser. The PPCs slammed into the other wing and the nose. Warning klaxons sounded. The gauss slug had ripped off part of his wing and he had lost maneuvering capabilities because of it. The damage had been enough that Okota had seen stars for a moment. When he recovered from his temporary daze, he saw that he was out of position. He pulled his joystick back and flew back into position.

Still slightly dazed, but concentrating hard, Okota returned the fire, but his auto cannon fire went wide.

The _Sabutai_ fired again. The pulse laser stitched holes and burn marks across the left side of his _Slayer_. The gauss and both PPCs slammed into the nose of the fighter. Warning klaxons sounded. Multiple failures among essential life support systems were failing from the damage. The monitors flickered as power flowing to them came and went. Okota knew he was dead. Power was coming and going, meaning the ejection equipment would not work and he could hear the internal structure of the _Slayer_ creaking and giving way. First one wing broke off, then the armor on the left side. Okota closed his eyes and tried to think as his family as his _Slayer_ exploded.

The Draconis fighters were routed. The Clan fighters chased the Combine fighters for about 1000 meters before breaking off and returning to their respective DropShips. In all, of the 108 Combine fighters of the 3rd and 7th Luthien fighter wings, 52 were destroyed and 35 were crippled beyond repair. The remaining 21 were damaged but operational and retreated back to Luthien.

Of the Clan forces, only eight were destroyed and eight were crippled. All the fighters returned to their respective DropShips for repairs and reloads. They would be ready for combat again by the time the DropShips landed on the 'Black Pearl'.

The battle for the space of Luthien had been fought, and won, by the Clans. This looked very grim for the Combine regiments on Luthien.

My first fanfic. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Please, dont be gentle, I love a good laugh. More to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Unity Palace, Imperial City, Luthien**

**Phest Military District, Draconis Combine**

**04 January 3052**

1**800 Hours**

Kanrei Theodore Kurita read the reports that were given to him just minutes earlier. His aerospace forces had been crippled by the engagement with the Clans in the space above Luthien only 12 hours before. Of the two aerospace wings stationed on Luthien, only 22 fighters were currently operational. However, most of these were so badly damaged that they had been undergoing repairs for the last 10 hours and still had a few hours ahead of them.

The Kanrei was forced to activate the 4th Militia Air Wing, a militia unit comprised totally of conventional fighters. Seven squadrons consisted of Guardians while the other two were Mechbusters.

The Wolf's Dragoons and Kell Hounds, sent to defend Luthien at the request of Hanse Davion, added a mere forty fighters for a total of 62 aerospace fighters. The Kanrei had just 62 aerospace fighters and 54 conventional fighters to stop the Clans as they began to land.

As for battlemechs, six house regiments and six mercenary regiments were at his command, plus any militia regiments that could be equipped before the Clans arrived. This counted out to over 1400 battlemechs were present to defend Luthien.

These were astounding number to say the least, but the Kanrei knew that their first battle, and their first loss, could have decided the entire battle. With multiple war ships in the sector, and with space superiority, the Smoke Jaguars could easily bombard the Imperial City from orbit like they did to Edo in the early days of the invasion. Nothing on Luthien could stop a Clan warship, not even the 200 or so aerospace fighters at his command.

The Kanrei took a deep breath to calm him self. The computers gave an ETA of 9 hours for the Clan DropShips to begin landing. Trajectory put them landing in Tairakana Plains. Theodore had little time to finish preparations for the defense of the Imperial City.

"Give me a geographical map of Tairakana Plains and the surrounding area," The Kanrei said to one of his aides.

"_Hai_, Kanrei."

The aide punched in a short series into the computer and a map of the Tairakana Plains appeared. A holographic representation of the Tairakana Plains and of 5 kilometers in every direction hovered over the projector. The outskirts of the Imperial City could be seen on the edges of the map.

The Kanrei sat examining the map. He planned, discarded, and planned again, trying to think up some way to beat the Clans back. Beat them back and off Luthien so that they will never try to take it again.

It was a bright candle in the darkness. It would take much work but his plan had potential he thought.

"Get me the leaders of all battlemech regiments on planet, along with a list of all available AgroMechs and mines," he told his aides with great enthusiasm.

"AgroMechs, Kanrei?" on of them replied, slightly puzzled at his request.

"Yes, AgroMechs. Get me the lists now or you will be in the front lines when the Clans strike."

The aides hurried off as fast as possible, knowing full well that the Kanrei did not make idle threats, but promises, in times of dire circumstance.

Theodore pondered his plan a little more. It was audacious to say the least. If it worked, however, it would blunt the Clan attack and perhaps bring up the spirits of his fellow warriors. He moved on to his briefing room. Now he had a battle to plan. 

**Smoke Jaguar Carrier class DropShip **_**Prowler**_

**Space around Luthien**

**04 January 3052**

**2200 Hours**

Star Commander Dillon had a full rest of seven hours while the DropShips burned toward Luthien unmolested by enemy craft. The total defeat of the spheroid's aerospace fighters had given the pilots of the entire assault force a temporary and much deserved rest. With plenty of sleep and a good meal while their fighters were repaired and reloaded, the Clan pilots were operating at 110.

Most of the other DropShips would be entering the atmosphere of Luthien very shortly. They carried over five Galaxies of Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat forces. Soon, Dillon's reprieve, along with that of the rest of the pilots would soon be over for those DropShips would need protecting, and that was the job of the fighters.

"_Without the pilots, no force would ever survive to do battle upon the ground."_

Just ten minutes later, the call came.

"All pilots, report to fighters. I repeat, all pilots, report to fighters immediately."

Dillon jumped up from his bunk and ran down the corridor. He pushed a tech out of his way as he raced to fighter bay 1.

His _Sabutai_ looked as good as it did before he took it into battle just hours before.

"The techs may be irritating to say the least, but at least they get their job done. They get their job done very well."

Dillon climbed into the cockpit and began strapping and plugging himself in. Within three minutes, the _Sabutai_ was fully powered up and moving towards the launch doors. By the time Jaguar Claw flight had been launched, the rest of the fleet's fighters were already moving to screen the DropShips. Fifty-two Clan fighters now stood between the DropShips and the freebirth pilots of the sphere. 

**Kell Hounds Landing Area, Luthien**

**Phest Military District, Draconis Combine**

**04 January 3052**

**2200 Hours**

Corporal Nathan Spring of the Kell Hounds' First Regiment aerospace wing Crow squadron, pulled on his flight suit as quickly as he could. Clanner DropShips had entered the atmosphere and would land within the hour. It was his job, along with the rest of the fighters on Luthien to bring as many of these DropShips down to Luthien, in as many pieces as possible.

Finished suiting up, Spring mounted the ladder of his upgraded _Lucifer_ aerospace fighter. Designated the LCF-R16, the _Lucifer _packed double extended-range large lasers, a 20-rack long-range missile launcher, two Streak short-range missile two launchers, and a medium pulse laser. Weighing in at 65 tons, it packed a wallop for its size. The _Lucifer_ could also take a beating with eleven tons of armor covering its structure. 

Spring strapped himself into the _Lucifer_ and pulled back the reactor switch to start the engine up. The rumble of WAS 195 fusion engine began and shook the frame of the fighter.

With the saying of a few phrases, the _Lucifer _was at Nathan's total control. The twenty fighters of the Kell Hounds waited for what seemed like hours until they were given permission to take off. They took off with twenty roars of engines and twenty golden streaks behind them.

The restrictions of fuel would make attacking the Clan DropShips all that harder. Sooner or later, they would have to return for refuel or risk going dry and crash landing. Spring's _Lucifer _had plenty of fuel with five tons worth waiting for use. Some of the other fighters, like the two Seydlitzs of the wing, only had about three tons of fuel.

"Major Kirk to Bird Dogs. We have our targets on the radar. Raven squadron, your with Command. We're going after a _Sassanid-_class DropShip. I've tagged it D1 on your computers. Crow and Blackbird squadrons are going to engage an _Overlord-C_-class DropShip tagged D2. Good luck and God speed Bird Dogs. Major Kirk out." 

Nathan tried to swallow but found his mouth dry. Twelve fighters against an _Overlord_, one of the biggest DropShips ever produced. But this was no ordinary _Overlord_; it was a Clan produced one with much better weaponry and better gunners. This one was also being screened by almost sixty Clan fighters, whose pilots were bred for battle.

But this was his job. He had signed up for the dangerous life of a mercenary. He damn well intended to do his job and do it well. Nathan readjusted his grip on the joystick and found that his palms were wet with sweat. He wiped them off one at a time and tried to mentally prepare himself for the coming battle as the Clan DropShips loomed in the distance but were getting closer with each passing second. This would be a hell of a fight. 

**Mech Bay 1 of the **_**Overlord **_**DropShip **_**Cat's Claws**_

**Burning towards Luthien **

**04 January 3052 **

**2200 Hours**

Star Captain Brianna, clad in very little in anticipation of the hot confines of the 'mech cockpit. She pulled on her cooling vest as she walked towards her _Mad Dog_ OmniMech. With paired large and medium pulse lasers in each arm and a long-range missile 20-rack in each shoulder, the _Mad Dog_ was a deadly 'mech.

Climbing the ladder, she reached the cockpit of the _Mad Dog_ and squeezed into it. The cockpit was the smallest the most Spartan cockpits of all Clan 'mechs. She buckled herself into the cockpit and pulled out the medical monitor patches and cables. She put the patches on her shoulders and thighs and clipped the rounded end to the bead on the patch. Next she took out the cooling vests cable and snapped it into the jack on the command couches side. Coolant began to circulate though the vest, cooling Brianna's body.

Flipping the reactor switch, the Mad Dog's fusion engine came to life. Monitors switched to life and began their checks. Brianna pulled down the neurohelmet and put it on. She adjusted it so the neuroreceptors were positioned correctly and then locked it down on the shoulders of her cooling vest.

She gave her password to the computer when she was asked for it. Her password was accepted and power was sent to the weapon systems. She typed a quick series of commands into the keypad in front of her to disable the movement system temporarily to prevent accidental movement and damage to the mech bay.

"Alpha trinary, power up all systems but disable the foot pedals, I do not wish to see this mech bay damaged by any enthusiastic pilots."

Brianna was always a little nervous about sitting in a mech inside of a DropShip about to land in enemy territory. Even with all her training and the power at her fingertips, she was powerless when she was in the bowels of the DropShip. She could do nothing to prevent enemy fighters from ripping the ship apart from without while she was stuck within.

_Flashback_

_The great black jewel floated in space. It was the size of a planet. It was a perfect jewel, black in color. Then, flames surrounded it on all sides. Great flames threatened to enshroud the entire jewel and destroy it. But, a wolf, a Strana Mechty Wolf jumped from the flames and stood, growling, in front of the jewel, as if guarding it. Then, as quickly as the wolf had appeared, a Nova Cat leaped towards the Wolf. After a bitter struggle, the Nova Cat felled the Wolf and sat upon the jewel as the flames weakened and died down._

_End flashback_

Brianna now understood the vision she had had so long ago in front of a fire. She had not eaten for days when she had the vision and it had been slightly disappointing to her, for she could not understand its significance or its meaning. But now she knew; she knew all too well.

"He is here," she whispered to herself. "He is here and will be struck down before the end." 

**Smoke Jaguar**_**Sassanid-**_**class DropShip **_**Bloody Mist**_

**Deck 2**

**Burning towards Luthien**

**04 January 3052**

**2200 Hours**

Warrior Travis walked out of the training area of the _Bloody Mist_, content with his fighting abilities. He had been showing his prowess to the others of his star. It was clear that Travis would easily rise through the ranks to become at least a Star Commander. He was not the biggest of the Elementals aboard the _Bloody Mist_ but he was easily one of the strongest and best fighters.

He followed Star Captain Jason Stiles and the rest of his star into the storage room to retrieve his Elemental suit. The rest of the star began donning their armor in preparation for the coming battle.

Standing at least eight feet tall apiece while clad in their suits, each of the Elementals looked like alien beings. With a detachable SRM launcher on their backs, a small mech-grade laser instead of a lower arm on their right arm, and a battle claw with under-slung sub-machine gun on their left, each Elemental suit was as deadly as an entire infantry platoon. Five of the suits, and they packed enough punch to easily take down a light or medium battlemech.

After donning the suit, Travis used the sight-activated menu projected on the inside of the visor; he proceeded to activate all of the suits equipment except for weapons. While aboard a DropShip, weapons were not allowed to be activated. One accidental discharge could breach the hull and kill anyone who was not in his or her armor. On the larger scale, a hole in the hull could cause to major complications during an attempted landing, possibly leading to the destruction of the vessel upon reentry.

The Elementals, now fully dressed in their armor, marched out of the storage room to the barracks. Here they would wait another thirty minutes for the ship to land. Upon landing, they, and the fifty other Elementals onboard would prove their skills to their big brothers and show that without them, no battle could be won. 

**Forward Observation Post, Tairakana Plains, Luthien **

**Phest Military District, Draconis Combine**

**05 January 3052**

**0500 Hours**

Shin Yodama checked and double-checked the data sent in from the Skulker's sensors. As of yet, nothing out of the ordinary had been found. The three other men in the Skulker also searched the data for anything strange to indicate incoming units.

The Clan DropShips were projected to land within one hour. The Skulkers were there early because a combat drop was still a possibility. If the Clans were to hot drop their mechs or Elementals, then the defenders would be without warning.

Shin was full of anxiety about sitting in a small scout car. The Skulker was very lightly armed and armored. Any enemy could easily destroy it, and with it, Shin. 

**Sky above Tairakana Plains, Luthien**

**Phest Military District, Draconis Combine**

**05 January 3052**

**0500 Hours**

Star Commander Dillon waited while he and the rest of the fighters screened the DropShips. Scanners on the orbiting ships had picked up multiple targets launching from a drop zone about 30 minutes flight away from the Tairakana Plains. If they traveled at average speed for a spheroid fighter, they should reach the plains within two minutes.

Within one minute, however, the fighters were on his radar. Computer estimated that there were 62 enemy fighters incoming. There were on a direct intercept course for the DropShips.

"Jaguar Claws, engage enemy fighters. Do not let them near the DropShips at any cost. If we lose DropShips now, it may well mean we lose this battle later on."

Across the screen, orders to engage were given and fighters flew towards their opponents like cavalry in the ancient days of Terra.

Dillon dropped his crosshairs onto an enemy fighter as they closed. Just as he was about to fire, the fighter banked hard to left, sending the PPC bolts Dillon had sent at it far off target. Suddenly, a light came on in his mind. The markings on that fighter he knew very well.

"Freebirth! The traitorous Wolf's Dragoons are here. Destroy them to the last man and let none escape!"

Dillon sent his _Sabutai_ after a black and red Dragoon _Visigoth._

"How did those freebirth scum manage to acquire Clan technology? Ah, it does not matter. I shall blow it out of the sky along with the pilot."

He began trailing the _Visigoth_ by only 50 meters. It banked to the left and Dillon followed. It tried faking a bank to the right and went left instead, but still Dillon followed. The pilot tried firing his aft lasers to discourage Dillon, but he aptly dodged the blasts. He dropped his crosshairs onto the rear of the _Visigoth_ and fired both PPCs, one large laser and the gauss rifle.

One of the PPCs burned into the _Visigoth_'s engine, making it brighten as some of the shielding was damaged. The other burned into the back of the right wing, melting armor off it. The pulse laser stitched its way across the right side of the fuselage and the gauss slug directly hit the small turret containing the rear-mounted lasers, shattering the turret and destroying both lasers.

With a small amount of smoke trailing behind it, the _Visigoth_ dived to try and shake off his pursuer. The movements were sluggish as the engine shielding hade been damaged. Dillon maneuvered his _Sabutai_ into position for another salvo. He checked his weapons status monitor as he maneuvered. Gauss rifle was 100 but with only 7 slugs remaining in its bin. Both PPCs and lasers were 100 with recyclers fully operational. Checking his armor status, he was in the green everywhere except for the left wing, which marked as yellow.

Dillon smiled to himself. He had plenty of fuel left, 20 minutes of maneuvering worth, all weapons at 100, and almost full armor. This would be a good fight.

He turned his attention back to the injured Dragoon _Visigoth._ It could not maneuver very well now and it looked as though it might have been leaking fuel.

Dillon's crosshairs fell over it and shone gold. He squeezed the triggers on the joysticks and sent death towards the fighter. The gauss slug hit the tail and bent the main part to the left at least 15 degrees. The PPCs both hit the left wing and melted both armor and structure beneath their vile grasp. The pulse laser melted armor away from the engine, creating more of a problem for the pilot.

To make matters worse for the Dragoon, the badly bent tail sent the fast-flying _Visigoth_ into the spin. Dillon watched as it spun too quickly to allow ejection and lost altitude very quickly. He over-flew it and lost the fighter from his canopy glass. In ten seconds, Dillon saw the computer list his target as destroyed. It had crashed into the ground. There was no ejection.

All around him, Dillon saw both Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat fighters target Wolf's Dragoons fighters as their primary targets. One Dragoon fighter to his right blew up under the combined fire of two Nova Cat _Turks_.

A Jaguar _Avar_ caught his eye. It was shrouded in flames, obviously a badly damaged fighter. It was closing in on a Dragoon fighter. It was getting very close, too close. The fighters collided and exploded in mid air. There was no time for either pilot to eject. The Jaguar pilot had given their life to destroy a traitorous Dragoon pilot and his fighter. That was the Jaguar fighting spirit that the Clan regarded so highly. The pilot of the _Avar_ would certainly receive the honor of being incorporated into the eugenics program.

Dillon turned his attention away from other Clan fighters and went searching for a new target. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Corporal Spring saw the fighter screen on his sensors before he saw it. He knew it was there for he could see the hazy outlines of multiple DropShips coming down some miles further on.

"This is Major Kirk. Fire at will, I repeat, fire at will. Teach those clanners how we do things."

The two flying armies came closer with each passing second. At 700 meters, the Clans began firing their laser weapons. At least one hundred lasers flew into the mass of the Kell Hounds, Wolf's Dragoons, and Draconis Combine fighters. A shot rocked Spring's fighter as it melted a streak into the side of his _Lucifer_'s nose. At 600 meters, missiles exploded out of their launchers and arced towards both sides.

Spring saw his missiles fly toward a Clan _Avar_, peppering it with about ten missiles. A set of missiles flew close to his _Lucifer_, but they went wide and did nothing but make his heart race.

"Spread out, spread out. We're bunched up."

Fighters on both sides of the mass began to bank away from the central point. Soon, the mass of Kell Hounds was split into 3 squadrons with the two command fighters up front. The Draconis fighters took up the left flank, with the Dragoons in the center, leaving the Hounds to take up the right flank.

Within seconds, the groups were within 200 meters and the ordered forms of fighters degenerated into a free for all dogfights.

Spring picked up on the _Avar_ he had damaged earlier. The lighter fighter was much faster than his upgraded _Lucifer_, but it was trailing a Dragoon fighter and was happy to stay close to Spring. Carrying no aft firing weapons, the _Avar_ had no way to defend itself against the heavier fighter coming up on its rear.

He triggered both of his large lasers at the small fighter. One went wide, flying past the right wing. The other hit the _Avar_ above its right wing, burning into its fuselage.

The _Avar_ gave up pursuit of the Dragoon and thrusted forward and then turned quickly, so as to get a shot at the much slower and bigger _Lucifer_. As the fighters closed, the _Avar_ fired its large laser, a pulse laser, and a six-pack of missiles. The large laser glanced off the left wing and the pulse laser stitched some marks across the nose of Spring's _Lucifer_. The missiles slammed into the _Lucifer_, dealing damage all over its armor.

Spring's return fire was less accurate but more devastating. Firing one large laser and one pulse laser, the opened a decent hole in the _Avar's_ left wing. He then triggered both of his 2-pack SRM launcher. One didn't fire as it did not gain a lock, but the other fired straight and true. One missile slammed into the _Avar's_ nose, gouging a small hole there. The other found and exploited the hole in its wing. Sparks came out of the hole after the missile found it. Soon, flames were to follow. Within seconds, the entire fighter was shrouded in flames as the fire found their way across it.

Before he could follow the _Avar_ and destroy it as it dived and banked away from him, his _Lucifer _shook with incoming fire. A Nova Cat _Sulla _was bearing down on him. Content with his first kill, Spring turned and began the deadly dance yet again with the _Sulla._

**Nova Cat **_**Overlord**_**-class****DropShip **_**Cat's Claws**_

**Burning towards Tairakana Plains**

**05 January 3052**

**0545 Hours**

Star Captain Brianna was full of nervous tension. She could hear some of the explosions happening outside in the battle between Clan and freebirth fighters. Once, a fighter had closed with the _Cat's Claws_ and began firing on it, but the gunners quickly dispatched it before it could deal any major damage.

With only fifteen minutes till landing, Brianna initializing final checks on all the mechs in her command. So far, the worst that had been found was a foot actuator on a _Timber Wolf_ was a little too tight. One of the techs had become overexcited and tightened some bolts in the actuator too tight, but it was an easy fix.

The rest of the trinary completed final inspections and found no other problems.

Brianna set her warrior to review the limited maps they had been given. The terrain was mostly flat, but they would come to a valley before reaching their primary target; the Imperial City. 

**Smoke Jaguar**_**Sassanid-**_**class DropShip **_**Bloody Mist**_

**Burning towards Tairakana Plains**

**05 January 3052**

**0545 Hours**

Warrior Travis followed the rest of his Point in lining up next to the DropShips bay doors. With only 15 minutes left till landing, Travis was naturally anxious to get into combat.

His Point would be part of the advance troops to find and clear any traps made by the _dezgra_ freebirth. His Star would be jumping in only ten minutes to clear out the Drop Zone.

Travis checked his suit one last time. Everything was fully operational and ready to kill freebirths.

The air battle outside had finished only minutes ago, but from what he had heard, the fighters of his fellow clansmen had deftly defeated the fighters of the freebirths. With no fighters to stop the DropShips, the entire task force of over five Galaxies would land, intact. 

**Forward Observation Post, Tairakana Plains, Luthien**

**Phest Military District, Draconis Combine**

**05 January 3052**

**0600 Hours**

"Still nothing, sir," the tech said to Shin, shaking his head as he looked at the monitor. "They must have landed by now but they are staying low. I've had some anomalies about ten minutes ago but nothing since. They were much too small to be mechs, and too small to be battle armor. Must've been an animal."

"Well keep a sharp eye," Shin replied. "I don't want to have anyone sneak up on us."

"_Hai._"

A few minutes passed with out anything. The clanners were staying canned up in their ships on the outskirts of the _Skulker_'s sensor range. This just didn't seem right to Shin. He doubted that they knew he was there. Perhaps they were having trouble with their doors. No, there was not enough damage to constitute damaged doors.

"Sir! I have multiple targets incoming! Too small to be mechs, but certainly big enough for Elementals!"

"Where are they? Where are they heading?"

"Uhh, right toward us! Goddamn, they are coming right for us!"

"Driver! Get out of here now! You!" Shin pointed at the gunner who was getting back into the _Skulker's _turret. "Get up there and shoot anything that moves."

Shin fell against the wall as the _Skulker _began moving as fast as it could, attempting to get away from the oncoming elementals. An explosion twisted the car around as a missile exploded mere feet from it. With expert handling, the driver got the _Skulker_ back on course to the next outpost.

Shin fell into the communications chair and began relaying the message.

"This is Observation Three. To all receiving frequencies. We have multiple Elementals inbound. Grid A2535 heading to A2536."

Shin turned off the comm to see if he received a signal. All he got was static.

"They're jamming us. I can't get through to HQ or even another post. Driver, get us to A2536 as fast as possible. Gunner, direct your fire aft and hit anything you see."

Rushing wind replied to his orders to the gunner. He looked up and saw the gunner's legs disappearing through a hole in the roof where the turret used to be. The screech of metal being twisted out of shape met his ears as he ran forward. He grabbed the wheel and steadied it.

"To the back! We've got one on top of us. Blow the aft hatch and send the test-tube bastard into oblivion."

The driver unbuckled himself and squeezed himself past Shin and moved to the back. Shin slid into the driver's position and slammed his foot on the gas to keep the speed up. He buckled himself in and steadied the wheel. The sound of rattling metal and a horrible scream drowned out the rushing wind. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the driver cut down by machine gun fire from the Elemental.

Shin looked back to where he was driving but it was too late. The _Skulker_ hit a tree stump some two feet high and was sent flying. It hit ground some 20 feet from the stump on its front corner and was sent tumbling end over end seven more times before finally coming to a stop on its destroyed wheels. Shin, unbuckled himself slowly, for the pain was great.

Shin spat, and saw blood and teeth chips mixed with saliva. He knew he had at least four broken ribs and the wrist of his right hand was also broken. He staggered out of the back of the _Skulker_, which had been ripped open by the force of the crash.

He tried to get his bearings but found he could not. He saw stars as the pain increased. He began staggering in the direction of what he thought was grid A2536 and safety.

A loud thump from behind him reached his ears. He turned and saw an Elemental standing there, looking at him. At 2.6 meters tall, the Elemental was a giant among men. He pulled his pistol out of its holster with his left and only good hand and pointed it at the clanner. Before he could squeeze off a shot, the Elemental came forward and hit his left hand, sending pain shooting through his arm and sending his gun flying ten feet.

Shin thought he heard sinister laughter. He felt himself being lifted and looked down to see the Elemental's claw closed around his jacket, lifting him up. The clanner threw him and he landed, back first against a tree.

"Stupid freebirths."

The Elemental walked forward and stared down at him.

"You shall be no sport at all. I shall show mercy to you and put you out of your sad existence, but I shall show no mercy to your friends."

The Elemental raised his laser arm and pointed it at Shin's chest. Darkness surrounded Shin as the Elemental fired. He felt little pain as the darkness enshrouded him. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Warrior Travis walked away from the dead form of the freebirth he had just dispatched. He was an easy kill, but the chase of the vehicle had been invigorating. He brushed off the mud covering the Smoke Jaguar painted onto his armor's shoulder.

"Vehicle destroyed. Crew eliminated."

"Were they able to warn others of our arrival, Warrior Travis?"

"No, Star Commander. They tried but our jammers kept it from being transmitted. I destroyed them before they were able to escape the jamming net and send off a transmission."

"Good. Your skills will be noted in your codex. Return to the rendezvous immediately for further briefing. If you find any more freebirth scouts on the way, permission is granted to dispatch them. But, follow them for one kilometer. I do not wish to lose one of my best warriors to a freebirth trap set by a scout."

"Aff, Star Commander. Warrior Travis out."

Travis began moving quickly to the rendezvous point. He did not use his jump jets, for although they would get him there faster, they would also reveal his position and allow for freebirth trickery. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

End of chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the wait to my readers. I had major writers block repeatedly throughout this chapter. I will begin chapter 3 soon and hopefully have it done and up in about 1 week's time. Till then, good hunting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Nova Cat Landing Zone, Tairakana Plains,  
Luthien Phest Military District, Draconis Combine  
05 January 3052  
0600 Hours**

Star Captain Brianna piloted her _Mad Dog_ OmniMech out of the mech bay of the DropShip _Cat's Claws_. It was still dark outside, but the light of dawn could be seen on the horizon. It got closer with each passing minute but was still an hour or so off.

"_The light of day comes like the light of the Clans down upon these backwards people."_

The air was a little chilly, inside the cockpit and out. While the fusion reactor that she sat atop would produce great amounts of heat in combat, the simple acts of moving into position on the outskirts of the landing zone would create so little heat that the heat sinks inside the belly of the _Mad Dog_ would have no trouble quelling it.

The rendezvous point for Brianna's cluster was 200 meters outside the landing zone, to the north. She set her 'mech forward at a slow trot. Within ten minutes she had maneuvered through the maze of metal that were the many DropShips that had landed in the area and was on her way to the rendezvous point.

Following her was the rest of 3rd Trinary of the Fourth Nova Cat Guards. Being a Star Captain of one of the prestigious clusters of Alpha Galaxy, Brianna was very proud of her position and her Clan, more so than normal for a Clansman. Third Trinary was made of mostly heavy and assault OmniMechs, including one dreaded _Dire Wolf_ assault mechs. Weighing in at 100 tons, it was by far the largest 'mech in the Trinary and one of the largest ever made.

Brianna had never been one for the _Dire Wolf._ She had always preferred the teeth and speed that the _Mad Dog_ had to offer and it had thus proved to be very effective with her at the joysticks.

"Star Captain. Do we have an order to move out yet?"

"Neg, Adrian. It seems as though Star Colonel Gritas had seen fit to hold us back for now."

"We have been bid out of the fighting then, quiaff?"

"Neg, Star Commander. We have not been bid out. However, it seems that we are to be a reserve for the Smoke Jaguars if they should fail to take their objectives."

Brianna spat out the name of the Jaguars. She, like many other Nova Cats, did not desire to fight with them. They were single-minded thugs who did not care about other Clans. All they thought about was victory in the field, and their single mindedness sometimes made this difficult. However, their martial abilities are not to be taken lightly.

Minutes passed slowly as the mechs of the Fourth Nova Cat Guards waited for the order to advance. Standing like metal sentinels guarding a great treasure, the mechs glistened as the sun began to come over the horizon. The painting of the Nova Cat upon the shoulders was lit up and the fangs of each of the cats were bright.

Twenty minutes passed without any new orders. Brianna and the rest of the Fourth Guards began to get restless.

One of the young and promising warriors of Beta Star, Warrior Jason, piped up on the comm.

"Star Captain, it seems to me that Khan Furey is using his powers to keep the Nova Cats back from the battle so that his Smoke Jaguars can take all the honor."

"Warrior Jason. Khan Furey may be a Jaguar, but he is also a Clansmen. I do not like the Jaguars, but I do know that they have their powers on the field. We Nova Cats are just as deadly on the field as they are, and Khan Furey knows this. We will be sent in before the battle's end."

"Aff, Star Captain."

Brianna heard the hint of pain is Jason's voice. She knew that he was an excellent mechwarrior and that he also had much bad luck, as the spheroids would have called it. Jason was one of the better pilots in the Nova Cat touman, hence his posting to the Nova Cat's alpha galaxy.

During his trial of position, he had only dispatched one opponent when his mech suffered severe internal damage to his engine from a heavy attack from a _Timber Wolf._

The sun was beginning to shine into her eyes ten minutes later. She raised her arms and stretched the muscles within them. The tension within her arms was relieved and she lowed them. Twisting her neck from one side to the other she cracked her neck to relieve the tension there.

She was readjusting her gloves when Star Colonel Gritas, commanding officer of the Fourth Guards, addressed his command over the comm.

"Star Captains of the Fourth Guards. We have been given orders from Khan Furey. We are to move out to grid B323, the Tairakana Plains. They have spotted a regiment of freebirth mechs there, apparently acting rather strangely, even for _dezgra_ freebirths. Move out at best speed. Star Colonel Gritas out."

Brianna took the initiative when Gritas had finished.

"You heard the Colonel. Third trinary, we have been given the left flank. Break into stars and follow on the right of First trinary.

A series of 'affs' followed Brianna's orders and the mechs of third trinary began to move.

The seventy-five mechs of Alpha Cluster slowly began their march. They began to pick up speed until the group was moving at about fifty or sixty kilometers an hour. It was an impressive sight to see. It was almost artistic in its appearance, if not for the fact that each and every one of the machines was filled with deadly weapons and piloted by a warrior who not only had the training to use those on any enemy in their was but also the determination and mind set to do the same.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Warrior Travis had reached the rendezvous point with out meeting any other freebirth scouts. It seemed as if all the scouts had been dispatched. His star alone had accounted for seven scout vehicle kills among the twenty-five Elementals. With their kill tally sent into field command, they awaited their next orders.

The waited, spread out to create a 30-meter wide perimeter, for command to send word to advance. They did not have to wait long before one of Khan Furey's aides to give them their message.

"Mist Star Two, this is Command. Khan Furey has assigned your Star to accompany Mist Star One and attach yourselves to Alpha Cluster, 2nd binary of the Jaguar Guards. The Jaguar Guards will then begin a march toward our main objective. Fly-by reports indicate mech movement around an area known as Basin Lake. You are to engage and destroy all enemies in the vicinity of Basin Lake and then continue onto the Imperial City. Command out."

Travis gave a quiet grunt, more to himself than anything, as a reply to the aide. He did not care for aides. They were not real warriors any more as far as he was concerned. Travis saw the job of aiding a Colonel, Galaxy Commander, or even a Khan as more of a punishment than an honor. You were a warrior, taken from the field of battle to fight in the field of politics and logistics. It was not a life for a real warrior.

Travis' Star Commander's voice broke through to Travis and brought him back to reality.

"All Points of Mist Star Two. Our rides have arrived. I want all Points to latch onto the corresponding point. We have 2nd Star to latch onto and Mist Star One has the command Star. Execute."

Wordlessly, the twenty-five troopers of Mist Star Two engaged their suit-mounted jump jets and covered the distance between them selves and their mech rides quickly. Travis jumped up one last time and attached himself to a _Hellbringer_, along with the four other Elementals in his Point. Closing the claws of his armor's battle claw around the in-built handhold and setting his feet into the alcoves for them, Travis hung from the right side of the OmniMechs chest. The _Hellbringer_, which had slowed down to allow the Elementals to jump on, now began to pick up speed. The rough ride that was riding on the outside of a mech now came into being for the Elemental passengers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took a little over an hour for the Jaguar Guards to pick their way to the shores of Basin Lake. With forty-five OmniMechs, the Jaguar Guards cluster was a powerful unit. With the addition of a point of Elementals for each OmniMech, they were each a God of Destruction.

Warrior Travis, who was attached to a _Hellbringer_, clung to the metal beast that he rode. On the far side of the dried up lake, he could make out a line of enemy mechs. It looked to be a full regiment, standing along the opposite shore. They were not moving, just standing there. Upon seeing the enemy, the Star Colonel commanding the Jaguar Guards called for an immediate charge.

The gray and black mechs of the Jaguar Guards ran down the slight decline and into the dried up lakebed. At 500 meters, they opened up with long-range weapons. Many of the enemy mechs were hit with laser, missile, and ballistic weapons. But still they stood, unmoving, without retaliating in anyway.

"_There is something wrong here," _Travis thought to himself as the _Hellbringer_ he clung to continued to run forward, firing its PPCs. _"Why are they not firing, or at least maneuvering?"_

The Star Colonel must have been thinking the same thing, for at 100 meters he ordered a full stop. A full star of Elementals from another unit disembarked from their mech rides and began jumping forward. They entered the ranks of enemy mechs and were lost from view.

After a few minutes, the comm crackled as the Star Commander of the Elementals that had been sent to investigate called in on the cluster channel so all could hear his words.

"These are decoy mechs," the Commander said. "I say again, these are decoys for a trap. They are nothing but _savashri _AgroMechs with scrap armor welded on. They are packed with explosives and the ground is littered with vibrobombs. This was meant as a trap to destroy us. The spheroids are nothing more that _dezgra_ free--…"

The entire line of booby-trapped mechs exploded, sending bits of metal rocketing up into the morning sky. A wall of fire, some thirty feet high spread out across the bank. A hundred smaller explosions followed as the mines dispersed between the fake mechs detonated from the force of the explosion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brianna felt like she had just been smacked in the chest from the sheer power of the explosion. None of the Nova Cat reinforcements had taken even minimal damage from the small metal shrapnel, but some unlucky Elementals had suffered minor armor damage from some larger pieces of flying debris.

The Star of Elementals that had been sent to investigate was no more. There had been no chance for them when the explosions had been set off. No remorse was felt for them, no grief or sadness. They died as warriors, but had unwittingly received one of the greatest dishonors that could happen to a Clan warrior. No genetic material would have survived the flames.

"_Freebirths,"_ Brianna thought. _"They must have infantry spotters somewhere and decided to blow their trap early. There was no mistaking that our mechs would not have moved forward after we knew it was a trap. And they might have tuned into that wide-beam transmission."_

Star colonel Gritas, commander of the 4th Nova Cat Guards, his voice full of anger at the attempted treachery, switched onto the Cluster-wide comm channel.

"The spheroids have given defeat to the Clans through the use of trickery in the past. Here they tried to do so again. We shall teach them the price of tactics only befitting the Dark Caste."

Mechs were appearing from behind where the fake ones once stood. They were painted with the same blue that the trapped ones had been. Brianna stared at their real enemy. A full regiment of spheroid troops stood waiting for the Cats and Jaguars. A full regiment worth of targets waited for Brianna.

"Show them no mercy for they deserve none," Gritas continued. "Nova Cats, charge the enemy mechs. Engage at will. The rules of Zellbrigen do not apply here for these are dishonorable troops."

Two clusters of Clan mechs began moving forward. Still over 600 meters away, the mechs of the Inner Sphere force were easily within range of the Clan weapons. Brianna, charging forward in her _Mad Dog_, let loose a volley of 40 LRMs and a pulse laser on a combine mech, labeled a _Hatamoto-Chi_ by her battle computer.

Her steady hand and keen eye sent the pulse laser straight and true. Armor was melted off its chest as the laser stitched its way across, creating a visible scar. The missiles flew and many connected with the mech. The upper torso was wreathed in flames as over thirty of the missiles from Brianna's launchers found their target and blasted armor away. Her computer updated the damage to the target, and showed that some 50 of the armor on the chest of the mech had been destroyed from her salvo. The computer also showed that the shoulders, side torsos and even the head had taken damage.

All along the enemy line, mechs were taking heavy damage as the Clan mechs closed. It had only taken the two groups twenty seconds or so to close the distance between each other to just over 200 meters. The amount of ordinance in the air suddenly increased as the sphere mechs began firing back at the Clan aggressors.

The _Hatamoto-Chi_ that Brianna had targeted charged one of its arm-mounted PPCs and returned her earlier attack. Her hits must have rattled the pilot or his computer as the shot missed at least six feet above her head.

Brianna squeezed the triggers and sent another salvo of pulse laser followed by twin missile racks toward the enemy mech. The pulse laser found chest of her target again, melting off even more armor, leaving behind just paper thin protection in comparison to what it was before the battle. Her missiles flew out of their racks afterwards, streaking at an almost level course to the _Hatamoto-Chi._ Only about twenty missiles found their target this time, blasting even more armor off the chest of the mech. The other missiles, devoid of a target to explode upon, flew past it and off to die somewhere behind the battle.

Black smoke poured forth from the chest of the _Hatamoto-Chi_ after a missile had punched through what had remained of the mechs armor and damaged the mechs engine shielding. Even with the horrendous damage caused by Brianna's mech, the pilot of the Draconis mech managed to keep it upright and moving forward. The return fire from the _Hatamoto_ consisted in only its dual SRM racks. The twelve high-explosive missiles erupted from the chest of the mechs and flew into Brianna's _Mad Dog_. Seven of the missiles found their mark and cratered her mech's chest and arms.

Switching over to her second weapons group, Brianna triggered all of her pulse lasers into the Draconis mech. The temperature in the cockpit rose a few degrees as the heat from all her lasers temporarily overcame the cooling capacity of her mech's heat sinks. Sweat began to form on her forehead and arms as the lasers reached out into the _Hatamoto_. One medium laser hit the right shoulder, turning armor into white-hot slag. The other hit the stylized head of the enemy mech, scorching the ferro-glass cockpit window. The two large pulse lasers bored straight into the chest of the mech, opening up two more large holes in the chest.

The _Hatamoto_ began to lean to the left as it ran forward. Within three giant steps, the machine stumbled and crashed into the ground hard. Dirt was thrown up all around the mech as it skidded to a halt. Armor was torn off the chest and right arm of the mech. It lay there, motionless.

"Scratch one freebirth," Brianna said as she moved her crosshairs off the fallen corpse of the mech and continued on.

All around her, the combined forces of the Nova Cats and Smoke Jaguars were decimating the forces of the combine. With ninety Clan mechs with Elemental support, there was no chance for this regiment of defenders with just over 100 mechs. Draconis mechs were falling like flies up and down the line, while the occasional Clan mech was disabled in the fighting.

Brianna stalked about the field inside the line of Clan mechs slowly moving toward the main objective. She took notice of an enemy mech, tagged a _Warhammer_ by her computer.

Squeezing the triggers, she sent her last missiles towards the mech, along with a large pulse laser. The pulse laser hit the _Warhammer_ on the right shoulder, melting through what little remained of its armor there. The missiles did not fare as well, only about half of them actually striking their target while the others ripped up the ground some ten feet in front of the mechs feet.

The _Warhammer_ turned to face its aggressor, raising both of its arms toward Brianna's _Mad Dog._ Each arm, ending in the barrel of a particle projection cannon, carried one of the most devastating weapons a mech could carry. Blue man-made lightning burst forth from each arm and connected with the Clan mech. One blue streak ravaged the armor on the _Mad Dog's_ right leg while the other slammed into the left torso, just below the missile rack. The torso was swung to the left a few feet from the sheer force of the impact.

Looking at her armor readout, she was down to 20 armor on her left torso.

"_Another PPC there and he will be through my armor," _she thought.

Brianna triggered both her large lasers at the _Warhammer._ One stitched its way across the mechs left leg, sending melted armor to scorch the ground beneath the mech. The other connected with the right shoulder again, easily melting through the armor and began working on the myomer bundles and internal structure of the mech. The mechs right arm came loose and fell to the ground; the myomer and internal structure damaged to the point where they could no longer hold the arm to the rest of the mech.

The _Warhammer_ fired its remaining PPC at Brianna, hitting the right arm just above the elbow joint. Brianna's targeting was thrown off by the hit, sending one of her large lasers wide to burn the ground to the side of the _Warhammer_. The other found its target and melted armor off the chest of the mech.

Brianna set her mech forward to close the distance between the _Warhammer_ and her own _Mad Dog._ Another PPC blast from the _Warhammer_ made her dance her mech to the side to dodge it. She was about to squeeze the triggers on her large lasers again when an explosion followed by the sensation of weightlessness found her. The _Mad Dog _hit the ground hard. When she looked, she saw the still-dark sky above her. She had stepped on an unexploded mine and had fallen due to the sudden damage. She checked her damage report monitor, most of the armor on the left leg was gone, but no actuator damage. She began rolling her mech so as to get it on its chest, so it could push itself up. But the shadow of another mech made her freeze. The _Warhammer_ she had been sparring with loomed over her cockpit. It did not raise its weapon, but instead lifted one of its legs. The bottom of the foot was held over her cockpit. She stared at it, waiting for it. She did not fear death; instead she accepted it.

The mechs foot began descending when a silver blur connected with the _Warhammer_, which fell backwards, away from the _Mad Dog._ Quickly, Brianna got her mech to its feet. Looking at the _Warhammer_, she saw that the head had caved in. This damage could only be attributed to a gauss slug connecting with the cockpit.

"We cannot have one of the Nova Cat's best Star Captains killed by a mine and a freebirth," a voice said over the trinary channel. Brianna recognized the voice and the slight hint of remorse that went with the mention of her rank.

"Your marksman skills are only increased by the advanced targeting computer in your _Warhawk_, Warrior Jason. I will be sure to mention this to the Star Colonel after we have taken Luthien."

"Thank you Star Captain. It seems that two more regiments of spheroid troops have made an appearance. The Jaguar Guards have been forced to a halt against the first regiment. They are calling for reinforcements and aerospace fighters for strafing runs."

"The Jaguars have bitten off more then they can chew. Well, we must get back into the fray before we become nothing more than slag and spare parts."

"Aff, Star Captain."

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Two full regiments and the remnants of a third now stood between the two Clan clusters and victory at the Basin Lake. The first regiment to engage the Clan forces, the Otomo, was very badly damaged, with over 50 of their mechs non-operational. The other two regiments, the 1st Sword of Light and 2nd Legion of Vega, were both at 100 operational level. Formed up in a wide crescent on the bank of the dried up lakebed, the three regiments stood to oppose the Clan forces.

The Otomo, much of what remained of it still under a vicious assault by the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats, was losing troops quickly. Two more Clan clusters, one from the Nova Cats and the other from the Smoke Jaguars arrived within twenty minutes. By this time, the Otomo were down to less than thirty mechs remaining operational. They were desperately trying to pull back, but the other two regiments were unwittingly blocking them in. If they parted, then the Clan forces could push through the hole and break through the blockade. But if they fought and pushed back with their wall of mechs, then the Otomo would be annihilated. It was a predicament of the highest order.

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Warrior Travis leaped on the fallen _Thunderbolt_. Having just come under a vicious assault by a Jaguar _Gargoyle_, the mech had fallen and now came under the vicious attack by the armored infantry of the Clans, the dreaded Elementals.

Travis landed on the mech's chest and jumped again. This time he landed on the mech's head, the ferro-glass window of the cockpit straining under the weight of a falling Elemental. Travis kneeled down to look inside. The pilot was straining at the straps that held him in, desperately trying to undo them. Then the mechwarrior saw the Elemental that stood on his mechs head. A look of utter terror came over his face.

Travis grinned to himself before punching the ferro-glass with his battle claw. It shook with the force of the blow but did not crack or break. Again, another hit and the window shook again. A third hit a deep crack appeared in the glass. A forth hit and the window shattered inward, bits of glass raining down on the mechwarrior inside. Travis reached in and grabbed the man's neck with his battle claw and twisted it violently. A satisfying crack sounded and the man fell limp, his neck broken.

He straightened up and jumped off the side of the mech's head. Searching for a new target, he saw that the blue mechs of the Otomo were doing their best to pull back. The crimson mechs of the 1st Sword of Light and the black and silver of the 2nd Legion of Vega were almost a solid wall though, and the slower mechs of the Otomo were forced back down with the quickly moving wall of the other two regiments.

Three Clan clusters, both Nova Cat and one Smoke Jaguar charged the two regiments between them and the Imperial City. One Smoke Jaguar cluster, however, was pulling back. Travis could not see why the Jaguar Guards, for that was the cluster that was retreating, was still very much a battle-worthy cluster, having only lost about a Star's worth of mechs. Then he saw why. Two more regiments were charging from the south and southeast, squeezing the Clan forces in a vice. The freebirths hoped to trap the Clan mechs and slowly crush them between their four regiments.

Two fighters streaked overhead, flying straight for the Jaguar Guards line. Travis watched for a moment at the aerospace fighters closed with their targets. But the fighters did not fire upon the Jaguars. The two fighters rained death and destruction upon the front line of the two new regiments. Two mechs exploded and a third fell. The confusion caused by the first two allowed six more fighters that had streaked after them, make their runs and devastate more mechs without being fired upon. It seemed that the Clans of Kerensky had won the battle for control of the air of Luthien.

Travis could not continue to watch the battle unfold, however. He was part of the battle and was bred for it. His job was to win, not watch. He turned to the two advancing regiments of the 1st Sword of Light and 2nd Legion of Vega and began jumping towards them. He had already taken four mechs out of the battle completely. He had no mercy for warriors that could not keep their machines upright.

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Star Commander Dillon laughed aloud and pulled back the joystick of his _Sabutai_ fighter, sending the fighter into a climb back into the clear air above the field of battle that lay below him.

The sudden attack by the eight Smoke Jaguar fighters had disrupted the enemy mechs.

"Sound off Claws. What did you computers report the damage as?"

Dillon liked to keep track of the number of kills his star made. Personally, he had destroyed five enemy fighters and two battlemechs. His star accounted for another thirteen fighters, and with this latest strafing attack, six more mech kills, minus the kills of the two pilots that had been lost fighting for air superiority with the freebirth pilots.

He tried to concentrate on his piloting and the reports of the pilots in his command. It was not the easiest thing to do, but he did it anyway. Overall, his star had taken only minor armor damage.

"Okay. We have enough fuel for one more attack run. Make your heading, 1-6-0 degrees. Pair up and prepare for you attack runs. Have at them!"

The eight fighters banked hard to make another strafing run on the Draconis mechs. With the attack by the Jaguar Guards, most of the enemy mechs did not notice the fighters heading to attack them. Gauss slugs, depleted uranium shells, lasers, and missiles streaked from overhead and slammed down into the Combine line. Many mechs were hit from in the attack, suffering major damage.

Dillon watched the chaos erupt from behind him in his aft facing camera as he flew away. More explosions erupted from the line as at least five more Draconis mechs exploded when their ammunition bins were hit. A few more mechs lost limbs or fell down, missing armor. At least one caught a heavy round to the head, and it fell face first into the ground.

"Jaguar's Claws, make heading 2-3-0 degrees and head for home. We will rendezvous with the _Prowler_ for refuel and reload and then come back for more."

The other seven pilots acknowledged his order and turned their fighters to head back to their DropShip.

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The battle against the two Draconis regiments between the Clans and the Imperial city was fierce. The remaining Otomo mechs had either been destroyed or fled through their own lines. The remaining two regiments were suffering major casualties, while the Clan clusters were only taking moderate damage by comparison.

Star Captain Brianna stepped over the corpse of a fallen _Dragon_ that she had just dispatched. Steam lifted off the mech from around the holes and scorch marks created by her lasers. The battle was going very well for the Clans. Of the approximate 130 Clan mechs, about 100 were still operational, as far as Brianna could tell. The Draconis mechs, however, were falling like flies to the Clan forces.

She walked her distinct looking mech forward. The Spheroids called her mech the _Vulture_. She had done some miniscule research on the vulture and had been appalled. The vulture was not a predator, but a scavenger, preying off the already dead corpses of other creature's food. Brianna did not find for the remains of others meals; rather, she found her own prey.

She spotted a new target. Standing just 150 meters away, a Draconis _Panther_ was standing behind a fallen comrade as cover, firing away with its PPC.

"_Such a light and fragile mech to send into a bloodbath,_ she thought. _"They must be more desperate to defeat us here than we thought."_

Brianna moved her crosshairs onto the figure of the _Panther_'s chest that was exposed over the fallen battlemech it was using for cover. The pilot of the _Panther _kept his mech still, aiming up shots on some unknown target away from Brianna. She squeezed the triggers and sent the pulses of her two large lasers into the _Panther_. One of the lasers burned marks into the mech's chest, melting off most of the armor there. The other scorched up and down the mechs right arm, turning armor into slag and revealing the _Panther'_s internal structure there.

The _Panther_ was thrown off balance by the attack and staggered back, the PPC bolt it let loose with as it came under fire flying well off any target. Regaining its feet, the mech fired with four SRMs from the chest launcher.

Three of the missiles found their mark, slamming into Brianna's _Mad Dog _and smashing armor on her chest and both legs. Before Brianna could fire again, the _Panther_ jumped into the air, and landed some 150 meters farther away. Brianna, whose mech was barely walking forward, kicked her _Mad Dog_ into a run to catch up with the fleeing mech.

Brianna thought she noticed something amiss. The _Panther_ was not the only mech retreating as fast as possible. All along the line, Draconis mechs were beginning a retreat. The center of the Draconis line had been breached, and almost a full trinary of mechs was pushing through the gap in the enemy line. The Clan forces began pushing against the line even harder, forcing the Combine mechs to fall into a full retreat.

Brianna followed suit and set her mech into a full run. She triggered pulses of lasers at any mech that presented itself as a target. A Draconis _Champion_ fell under a combined assault, only to be destroyed at close range by a Smoke Jaguar _Dire Wolf_. The Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats were charging as one, firing as one.

The Draconis Combine was retreating from the Tairakana Plains. The battle there was over, and the Clans were victorious. The battle for Luthien, however, was far from over.

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Authors note: My humblest of apologies for taking so long to write this chapter. I have not had all the time I wish I could have and I keep getting stuck. I will attempt to write chapter 4 and get it up soon, but with driving tests and school coming up, I don't know how much time I will really be able to dedicate to my writing or how long it will be before it is up. As always, please review. I like reading them and I like to talk about my writing to those who read it. Have a nice day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Tairakana Plains, Luthien  
Phest Military District, Draconis Combine  
05 January 3052  
0915 Hours**

Almost a full galaxy of Clan troops was flooding out of the Tairakana Plains and was marching quickly towards the Imperial City. Many kilometers of Draconis soil still lay between them and the capital city, but this distance was quickly closing.

The ground shook with the running of over 200 Clan mechs. Plants were crushed into nothing; ground kicked up and stomped down. The mechs had split into two groups, one of the Nova Cat clusters and one of the Smoke Jaguar clusters.

Star Captain Brianna piloted her _Mad Dog_ in the midst of the Nova Cat column. All around her were mechs of the Nova Cat touman. Many were damaged from the previous battle with the Draconis forces. A few mechs were missing limbs and Brianna even saw a _Mist Lynx _that had no side torso.

Her own mech was still whole, if missing armor over its entire chassis. The armor on the _Mad Dog's_ head had not been damaged however. Apart from the moderate armor damage, her mech was in perfect working condition. The _Mad Dog's_ LRM racks were out of ammunition but the pulse lasers that were housed in the mech's arms were working perfectly.

Of the mechs in her trinary, most were still working well. A _Warhawk_ had lost its missile rack during the fighting. Also, the arm had been sheered off of the trinary's _Dire Wolf_. Only one mech, a _Hellbringer_, had been destroyed in the fighting at the Tairakana Plains. It had lost a leg sometime after the battle had degenerated into an effective melee. The mech, made legless by a Draconis _Grand Dragon_, fell to the ground and had its cockpit crushed under the foot by the mech that had fell it.

The pilot of the _Hellbringer_, a Star Commander James, had then been avenged when one of the _Warhawks_ of the trinary had engaged the _Grand Dragon_ in a vicious one on one duel that left the Draconis mech a smoldering hunk of twisted steel lying upon the ground.

Now however, the Draconis mechs were on the run. They had stood their ground for but a few minutes and then began to be pushed back. Now, after a severe savaging by the forces of the two Clans, they had turned tail and ran. Many of the faster mechs had escaped thus far, but many that were not fast enough had been overtaken by the Clan mechs. Some thirty Draconis mechs had been crippled or destroyed since they had begun their retreat. Brianna had herself destroyed a fleeing _Dragon_, breaching the mech's rear armor and melting the gyro housed within its chest. She had left the pilot, the points of Elementals left behind to sweep through the battlefields would deal with any pilots that they found.

Brianna looked down at her secondary monitor, which encompassed the radar and digital map of the area around her mech. Much of it was filled with friendly units, the mechs and Elementals of her own Clan, along with the units that comprised some of the Smoke Jaguar presence on Luthien. She pushed a button and the digital map panned out, showing a larger area. For up to one kilometer, her mech's sensors could detect no enemy presence. It looked like a clear shot to the Imperial City.

It seemed as though the Combine had seen fit to pull all of its remaining forces back to the Imperial City, to put up the biggest defense that they could when the Clan forces reached it. All was clear for another ten minutes, when one of the advance scouts sounded the alarm on all channels.

"Incoming aerospace fighters," he yelled over the channel, audible to all Clan mechs. "Looks like forty or so fighters. They are not Draconis fighters, but mercenary." The scout spit out the word like one spit out the name of the hated Usurper. "Their ETA is one minute and counting."

Another scout joined the channel. "Targets confirmed. I have forty-eight fighters on the screen. I repeat, four, eight fighters on the screen. Everything from lights to assaults."

Galaxy Commander Wirth, who was the leader of the four-cluster unit by order of Khan Furey, listened and then cut off the second scout before he could say anything more.

"All units spread out. Make it hard for those freebirths to damage us. Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat aerospace forces are on their way. ETA of two minutes."

Brianna keyed in her trinary frequency.

"Charlie trinary. Spread out, I want at least thirty meters between mechs. Move slowly and keep your weapons tuned to the sky. If you see a freebirth pilot coming in for a strafing run, then destroy it if you can. Switch all LBX auto cannons to fire cluster munitions if you have them."

Her trinary confirmed her orders. She too turned her lasers to the sky. It felt quite odd to her to be following orders from a Smoke Jaguar. It was not a pleasing feeling. Both Khan Furey of the Smoke Jaguars and Khan Leroux of the Nova Cats had agreed and ordered that all Clan warriors on Luthien shall fight as one for the battle. It was a rare thing to see the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats on good terms with each other.

The mechs of the Clan clusters were spreading out along a large area. Some had found some cover in small bits of forest that had not been trampled on. Most of the mechs, however, were out in the open.

In the distance, many small dots appeared in the sky. Over forty mercenary fighters tore through the skies toward the waiting Clan mechs. Brianna's computer flooded with information as soon as they were within range. Classes of fighters, weapons load outs, speed, altitude and more columns of information scrolled across one of her monitors. With only a couple kilometers between the fighters and the Clan mechs, they would be in weapons range in just under twenty seconds. Brianna locked in an old _Lucifer_ as her primary target.

She looked down quickly to check her targets status in her monitor. The computer had drawn a digital picture of what her target looked like, including paint scheme. Brianna froze in terror and hatred. The _Lucifer'_s unit logo was a red circle with the open mouth of a wolf depicted inside of the circle.

"Those fighters are part of Wolf's Dragoons. Destroy those freebirths! Make them crash and burn!"

All the hatred of a lifetime came pouring out of her and the fighters came into weapons range. The fighters dropped their altitude significantly as they began their strafing runs. Lasers and auto cannon shells flew out of the fighters into the mechs and the ground in between them. Brianna's mech was spared the worst of it, but a few lasers and a small-bore auto cannon shook her mech as the slammed into it. A Nova Cat _Adder_ exploded under a ferocious assault from the fighters, and many more mechs were damaged in the attack.

The return fire from the ground clawed at the fighters as they flew over. Lasers, auto cannons, and missiles flew up to meet the mercenary fighters. No less then eight fighters were destroyed, either exploding, disintegrating, or crashing, due to damage. Brianna squeezed the trigger for all her pulse lasers. The streams of light flew out and struck the Dragoon _Lucifer_ in its soft underbelly. Streams of melted metal flew off behind the _Lucifer_, and holes opened up in its underside, exposing its interior. The _Lucifer_ flew on for a short distance and then exploded as the LRM ammo contained within cooked off, destroying the mech and most likely killing the pilot, who had no time to eject.

The remaining mercenary fighters, some thirty-two, flew off a great ways, still in visual and sensor range but far out of weapons range. They began banking around to come back for another pass. They were less than one kilometer away when some thirty fighters intercepted them. A full trinary of Clan fighters had appeared to destroy the mercenary fighters. With this new threat, the mercenary fighters broke off from their strafing runs to defend themselves against the Clan pilots.

The four Clan clusters that had hunkered down during the strafing began to move forward again. A full star of five Clan machines had been destroyed in the aerial attack, and another twelve had been crippled to the point that they would be useless in battle and would have to try and make their way back to a friendly landing zone for repairs. Many others had been damaged in the attack, mostly only armor damage and the occasional destroyed actuator. They began their quick march with less than fifty kilometers between them and the Imperial City.

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Star Commander Dillon raced back to his _Sabutai _fighter. His star had been given a reprieve from the fly-bys of the area surrounding the Imperial City. Although his star was only down three fighters and their pilots, they were held back for when the Combine and their mercenary allies would throw their aerospace support at the Clan mechs heading toward the Imperial City. The attack had come, and Dillon's star, reinforced with three pilots and their fighters from another star that had been left commander-less, were set off with two accompanying stars, another Smoke Jaguar and the last a Nova Cat.

The thirty pilots of the mixed Clan trinary were ready for take off in less than one minute. A Nova Cat Star Captain by the name of Jessica Bavros had been given command of the trinary. As they streaked into the sky of Luthien and given the coordinates of the Clan forces, the mercenary fighters were beginning their attack runs.

The fighters ran across the sky, covering ground quickly. It took them nearly a minute to come into visual range of the Clan mechs and the fighters that were harassing them. The mercenary fighters had just finished an attack run, losing many of their number in the attack, but crippling or destroying nearly twice that number in mechs. The enemy fighters banked hard away from the Clan fighters and began to work their way back to make another attack run on the mech forces.

Right as they were beginning to lose altitude for their strafing runs, the Clan trinary came into weapons range. Star Captain Bavros gave the order to fire at will, and the firepower of thirty Clan OmniFighters was set upon the flank of just over thirty spheroid fighters.

Dillon concentrated his efforts on a deadly but lightly armored _Chippewa _fighter. Weighing in at ninety tons, it was a monster among craft, but it only carried seven and a half tons of armor on its frame. He triggered both of his PPCs, one pulse laser, and his gauss rifle, sending four streams of death towards the _Chippewa_. One PPC missed wide, streaking off into the ground. The other slammed into the fighter's right wing, removing over half of the armor on it. The pulse laser stitched its way across the fighter's fuselage. The nickel-ferros gauss slug implanted itself into the _Chippewa_'s fuselage after the pulse laser, smashing the armor there, piercing it. The gauss slug crushed internal structure and damaged vital systems, sending the mercenary fighter careening towards the ground. A small series of explosions was detectible around the cockpit as the pilot blew the hatch and ejected from his doomed fighter.

An enemy _Transgressor_ returned his fire with three large lasers. Two of them missed him completely but the third burned armor off his _Sabutai_'s nose. Dillon banked his fighter to the side to throw off the _Transgressor_'s crosshairs. He returned the spheroids fire with both PPCs, both pulse lasers, and his gauss rifle. Both PPCs slammed into the fighter's nose, burning deep trenches into its armor. One pulse laser skimmed off the top of the _Transgressor_'s nose, barely even blackening the armor. The other cut into the fighter's left wing. The gauss slug found home and impacted into the cockpit of the mercenary fighter, obliterating it and the pilot within. The fighter was still moving quickly and continued to do so. It was flying straight towards Dillon's _Sabutai_. It took a second or two for him to notice it, for he was busy looking for a new target. He jerked his joystick to the left and forward to dive away from the derelict fighter. He was quick, but not quick enough as the dead fighter clipped his _Sabutai_ on the right wing. The damage was moderate, but not crippling. His maneuverability would be lessened, but he would not back down from a fight, even with the damage to his fighter.

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The mercenary fighters had long since been driven from the skies, many of their number falling to the ground like meteors. Clan fighters had pursued them for as long as possible, but were unable to follow them to where they landed. Their airstrip was safe from Clan air attack, for now. Having lost some four fighters, and beginning to run low on ammo and fuel, the friendly fighters had departed, content with destroying over three-fourths of the mercenary fighters.

The Clan mechs still had work to do, however. Almost four stars worth of mechs had been either destroyed or crippled in the strafing runs, and that number again were damaged. But the mechs continued on. With nearly 200 mechs at their disposal, and with reinforcements on the way, they were a force that would frighten even the most grizzled of freebirth soldiers.

It was only twenty minutes before the column of Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat mechs came into contact with their reinforcements. Three Jaguar and two Nova Cat galaxies had been sent to bolster the charge to the Imperial City. With five full galaxies of mechs, the race to the capital began anew. It was a terrifying sight. Over 1,000 Clan OmniMechs were racing across the terrain. The earth shook with their running. They could be heard for miles around.

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Brianna readjusted her gloves for what seemed the thousandth time. Her mech was near the front of the Nova Cat column. Both in front and behind her mech lay her comrades in arms. Over one thousand of her fellow Clansmen were moving forward. If they kept up their speed, they would reach the Imperial City in less than an hour, she predicted. Her computer confirmed her predictions. ETA to the Imperial City was thirty minutes, provided that they did not meet any resistance. Smoke Jaguar _Mist Lynxs_ and Nova Cat _Shadow Cats_ were deployed ahead of the main force as recon. So far, Brianna had heard nothing of any enemy activity.

The sun was rising on the horizon. It had traveled little since the Clans had dropped onto Luthien.

"_By the time the sun here reaches high noon," _she thought, _"the capital shall belong to the Clans of Kerensky."_

The outskirts of the Imperial City lay less than twenty kilometers away from the main column now. Small signs of civilization were visible here and there. A small orchard off in the distance, a refueling station for land vehicles there. Nothing of any military value or interest to the Clans.

"I have contact," a scout reported. "Large number of enemy forces coming from north, north-west. Looks like multiple regiments. Visual indicates the enemies belong to the Wolf's Dragoons."

The scout was silent as he pulled back to the main body.

Khan Furey, who had taken to his mech for the push into the Imperial City, broadcast a message to all loyal Clan forces.

"The Wolf's Dragoons have evaded the wrath of the Clans for far too long. Today shall be the day they meet their end. All units charge the freebirth scum and cut them down as the dezgra warriors that they are!"

All one thousand Clan mechs began turning toward the five regiments of the Wolf's Dragoons. With only just over 500 mechs at their disposal, the Dragoons were outnumbered nearly two to one.

Brianna set her mech in a charge along with the rest of the huge column of mechs. Fury raged in her eyes, anger burned in her blood. She believed that the Dragoons had betrayed the Clans and Kerensky's vision. They were traitors, Dark caste; and they would be treated as such.

The Dragoon mechs stopped their charge over the hills. They seemed stunned at the sheer size of the Clan forces. There was no mistaking them for true warriors, for they began to retreat slowly back the way they had come. They fired their lasers, missiles, and auto cannon at the approaching Clan forces. A Jaguar _Mist Lynx_ was knocked down and trampled by the mechs behind it. All the Clan warriors had a lust for the blood of the Dragoon warriors. The Dragoon retreat was too slow for the Clan forces had no trouble in crashing into their line.

Laser fire, auto cannon shells, and missiles flying upon golden streaks were traded back and forth between the two enemies. The viciousness of the Clan charge, coupled with the superior numbers broke the line of Dragoon mechs. Red and black mechs everywhere were crumbling under the ferocious assault.

Brianna was forced to admire the audacity of the Dragoon warriors. They were outnumbered and out gunned; yet they held their ground as best they could and made the Clans lose one of their number for each of their own losses.

She found a target of her own. It was a Dragoon _Archer_. It had lost an arm and one of its missile launchers had been severely damaged in the charge, but it remained fighting. Weapons fire from other Clan mechs never seemed to hit, yet the return fire from the _Archer_ never seemed to miss.

Brianna fired her pulse lasers at the Dragoon mech. Both hit the ground and kicked up dirt. She cursed, and this time took more careful aim. This time both her large pulse lasers found their mark. One melted armor off the mechs left leg while the other dug into the mechs side, where the arm used to be.

The _Archer_ turned to face her _Mad Dog_. It let loose with the missiles on its remaining launcher. The missiles rocketed up into the sky and came falling down all around her mech. Her _Mad Dog _was cloaked in dirt, fire, and smoke as the missiles impacted. She looked down at her armor monitor to see the damage, but was surprised to find that nothing seemed to have been hit by the missiles. She ignored this conclusion, coming quickly to the obvious conclusion that the damage control computer had been damaged.

She fired again, this time with all her lasers. Both her large lasers struck the mech in its left leg, melting through the armor and began working on the internal structure. The medium lasers lashed out and dug deep furrows into the _Archer'_s chest.

The _Archer_ fell to a knee. It kept itself up and balanced by leaning on its one remaining arm. It fired its LRM rack again as best it could, but the missiles went wild and flew past Brianna's _Mad Dog._ She walked her mech forward, firing her lasers into the mech again and again. It other arm was severed, followed by its left leg. Armor poured off its chest in streams and created pools underneath it. The _Archer_ could not fire back as it lay face down in the dirt. It tried to stand, but all that happened was it rolled over onto its back. It was almost sad to watch the mech struggle.

Brianna walked her mech next to the hopelessly crippled _Archer_. It was little more than a plaything for her now. It kept moving its one remaining leg, as if it could stand up and run away with just that. She stared at the blackened glass of the mechs cockpit.

"Filthy freebirth."

The cockpit was crushed under the weight of her _Mad Dog_. The mech twitched for a few seconds and then settled down into an eternal sleep along with its pilot.

Multiple missile lock warning sirens erupted. Missiles slammed into her mech from every direction it seemed. Lasers and auto cannon shells soon followed. Her mech was the target for nearly two companies worth of Dragoon mechs. It was a sudden change. The enemies closest to her disengaged their previous targets to fire upon her. She backed up her _Mad Dog_ so they could not so easily hit her. Checking her armor status, she saw that almost 70 of her armor had been stripped. No breeches had been detected as of yet, and there was no critical damage, but her mech was being stripped to the bone.

However, despite the Dragoon's merciless assault on her mech, they were beginning to break. An old _Rifleman_ withered under the merciless attack of a Smoke Jaguar _Dire Wolf_. It soon exploded as the Jaguar's weapons hit its auto cannon ammunition bin. A Nova Cat _Shadow Cat_ sent a gauss slug through the head of a Dragoon _Griffin _that it had been sparring with.

It did not take long for the Clans to begin pushing the Dragoon line back. With heavy losses, the Dragoon line slowly crumbled as the Clans pushed into them and forced them back. Leaving over a regiment of destroyed mechs behind, the Dragoons ran away from the field of battle.

"Charge the freebirths," someone yelled over the unit comm. "Do not let them run without feeling our breath upon their backs!"

Brianna cared not who it was who gave the order to continue to attack on the Dragoons. All that she thought about was destroying them, killing them. Hatred flowed through her veins as she charged her _Mad Dog _back into the fray as the Dragoons ran from the Clan mechs. She fired at any Dragoon mech that she could see. She never even took the time to see if she had a kill if it dropped from her crosshairs, she just fired upon a new target. As the Clan force charged across the battlefield, leaving crippled mechs in their wake, the Dragoons ran like dogs with their tails between their legs.

The Dragoons were chased out of the area known as the Waseda Hills by the imposing Clan forces. After a time, Khan Furey ordered the galaxies back on course, as their quarry was running to the east of the Imperial City and delaying the arrival of the Clan forces. Some three regiments worth of Dragoon mechs lay crippled or destroyed behind them, and the remaining two that composed the mercenary unit were in tatters.

There was only about ten kilometers between them and the Imperial City now. The tension of the battle for the main objective would be at hand soon. The anticipation was almost palpable.

"Contact! I have one regiment moving fast on out position. Three-zero-zero degrees. One regiment of freebirth troops incoming. They will be within weapons range in two minutes."

The scouts report put a smile on Brianna's face.

"_So, the freebirths want more, do they? We shall so them why it is futile to fight us."_

Khan Furey's voice made an appearance, cutting off the scout as she tried to repeat her warning.

"These freebirths do not know when to give up. Show them no mercy."

One regiment of spheroid troops came over the hills. They ran fast, and would soon be in weapons range. The Clan mechs turned and began their own charge to meet them. When they would meet, no Inner Sphere warrior would survive.


End file.
